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Drumheller-Horton Participating in Crowdsourcing Competition

Stephanie Drumheller-Horton, assistant adjunct professor and lecturer in earth and planetary sciences, is involved in a unique funding competition. She and partner Christopher Noto, assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Wisconsin at Parkside and research affiliate with the Perot Museum, have been selected to participate in experiment.com’s Paleontology Challenge.
The Experiment Challenge Grants define a specific scientific research question and open it to the public. Anyone can design an experiment in response to the challenge grant, but only a certain number — in this case, 12 — are chosen by peer review to compete further.

For the challenge, Drumheller-Horton and Noto proposed a project help continued discoveries at the Arlington Archosaur Site, a prolific fossil site in Arlington, Texas. Since formal excavation began in 2009, over 2000 fossils have been discovered from multiple species of plants and animals from the Cretaceous period. The team also hopes to learn more about the 96 million-year-old ecosystem, identify the many specimens already excavated which are housed in the Perot Museum, and analyze sediments in the laboratory.

To win the competition, Drumheller-Horton’s team has until May 10 to crowdsource $5,000 or more. The team that raises the most money for their project wins the competition and will receive an additional $1,000 grant from experiment.com. After only five days, the project is already 30 per cent funded, which puts it among the top winners thus far.

To learn more about this project or make a donation visit experiment.com.